


All Apologies

by honestgrins



Series: In a World [7]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Day Seven - Tropes, F/M, klarolineauweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 18:42:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8296097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: Day 7 - Tropes: Happy last day of AU Week! I chose "the ex returns" and "locked in a room together" as my tropes for this drabble, all human with a university setting. Enjoy!





	

"This is a bad idea," Bonnie said, shaking her head. Going to college with her best friends seemed like a great idea, until she remembered just how much trouble Caroline and Elena tended to get her into. "We're going to get caught."

Rolling her eyes, Caroline just continued her attempts to tap the mini-keg Stefan managed to smuggle into their dorm for them. "Okay, party police," she teased. "We're freshmen, it's practically law that we encourage underage drinking. Besides, you're the one who insists on a keg-stand contest every year at the swimming hole."

"But that's different," Bonnie insisted. "That's at home, where the sheriff might be disappointed when she breaks up the party, but she's not really going to throw you in jail."

"Only because she knows her daughter won't go quietly," Caroline teased playfully. "Seriously, Bon. It's fine. If you want to go to the library instead, I won't blame you. Just don't expect me to feel sorry for you when you know exactly no one else on the floor by the time classes start."

Bonnie huffed, though her smile betrayed the fun-loving girl inside. "Fine," she agreed. "Just, nothing too crazy, promise?"

With a sly grin, Caroline just kept trying to tap the keg.

* * *

The party was a hit, Caroline was proud to note. She worried going to Whitmore would just turn into a repeat of high school, especially with all of her friends choosing to stay close to home at the same university. Even Stefan gave up a scholarship to Stanford to stay with Elena, which meant her little family of friends got a chance to grow up together.

Still, she thought it was important for them to branch out beyond their tight-knit group. Hence, the killer party she and Elena had to bully Bonnie into throwing in their dorm room. Caroline went all out with the booze and the invitations, making sure everyone on their floor knew to drop by. There were a couple of cute guys, but she had learned the hard way that too many freshmen were only looking for a quick lay.

Her thoughts trailed to a particularly dark memory of the year before, and the ex-boyfriend who found the attention too much to resist. She had found him in a dorm party much like this one, canoodling with some redhead that was not Caroline.

Shaking her head, she focused on the successful introduction to college life happening around her. Stefan walked up, looking pensive like he knew she was on the verge of having a good time. "This is a party, Stefan," she yelled, nudging her friend. "Quit being such a Debbie Downer."

"Caroline," he said seriously.

"What? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Looking over his shoulder, though, she realized why. Her face hardened, and she slowly raised her red Solo cup to drain it of the gin and tonic. "What the hell is he doing here?"

Klaus Mikaelson was standing by an angry Elena, seemingly bored with her rant and glancing around the room like he owned the place. His eyes latched onto Caroline's, and he was suddenly alert as he stared right at her. Think of the devil ex-boyfriend, and appear he shall - completely uninvited.

When Stefan's only response was a guilty look, Caroline bit out the question again. "What the hell is he doing here, Stefan?"

Admittedly, Caroline's lifelong plan of attending Whitmore was nearly derailed when she found out Klaus had planned to transfer for his sophomore year. He went to some fancy art school at first, which was where Caroline's surprise visit had apparently ruined everything. Even with her senior year completely clouded by the accompanying heartbreak, she felt some relief that she was about to start anew at college.

But there the baggage was, staring at her like she was the most precious thing in the world. "I'm going to punch him," she decided, shoving her cup into Stefan's chest.

"No, Caroline," he said, pulling her back by her wrist. "I didn't think he would show up, honestly. I ran into him at the bookstore, he asked about you."

Scoffing, Caroline pulled away. "He doesn't get to ask about me anymore," she snapped, moving toward the drink table instead. She poured herself another gin and tonic, heavy on the gin. It had been the hardest thing she ever did, cutting off contact with Klaus. But she did it, and she made no secret that her friends ought to respect that if they remained friends with him. She didn't want to hear about him, and he didn't get to hear about her. That was the rule.

And Stefan broke it. Hard.

"I just thought-"

"That you would invite an asshole to my party," Caroline finished angrily. "I love you, Stefan, but you're an idiot. Go find Elena, I don't want to look at your face."

Slinking away like a kicked puppy, Stefan left her alone. People still surrounded her at the drink table, though, and she needed personal space. Irritable and barely holding onto her temper, Caroline slipped into their private bathroom, which had been roped off from errant party-goers.

Miserable, she went to sit in the shower as she tried to muddle through her emotions at seeing Klaus again. He was supposed to stay far away, not to interfere with her perfect freshman year. Caroline really thought she could manage it, too. If she ever saw him, she'd just turn right around and walk away. He would get the hint and leave her be.

It wasn't her fault they broke up, god. He was the asshole cheating. "She wasn't even that pretty," she muttered into her cup.

Content with her pity party, Caroline figured she could give herself five minutes of peace while Stefan ushered Klaus out of the room altogether.

"Caroline."

Unless the asshole was knocking on the door to the bathroom, all but begging for trouble. "Go away," she shouted.

Of course, he took that as an invitation to let himself in. She scrambled to stand up, her cup hindering her as the alcohol began to fuzz her anger. Klaus immediately reached for her waist to steady her, but Caroline's cold stare warned him off touching her. "I don't want you here," she said clearly.

"I know," he capitulated. He was the picture of remorse, but Caroline was long past the point of being fooled by stormy eyes and pretty dimples. "I had hoped-"

"For what?" she interrupted, genuinely curious. "What did you hope for, Klaus? To find another girl to fuck behind my back?"

He winced, though she could tell he was angry at the jab. "I've tried to apologize, many times. You never bothered to take my calls."

"Gee," Caroline sighed sarcastically. "I wonder why?"

"I screwed up," he admitted, which gave Caroline pause. Klaus Mikaelson was many things, but self-aware was rarely one of them. "You were so insistent that long distance relationships didn't work, and I wanted to prove you wrong. And you were, it was so incredibly easy…"

Caroline stared as he trailed off, only to clench her fists when he lost his words. "So easy that it allowed you to cheat without feeling guilty? What the hell, Klaus?"

He licked his lips in frustration, tense from holding himself away from her. "It was easy, and that scared me. I could genuinely see myself loving you for the rest of my life, and it was terrifying," he explained. "When I got drunk at a party, then-"

"I can fill in the blanks," she snapped. "In fact, I was there."

"I knew," he said quietly. "Rebekah had told me of your plans to visit, and I knew I could get you to walk away from me. Because I knew I could never walk away from you."

Biting her lip, Caroline kept her piercing gaze on him. "That is the lamest bullshit I have ever heard," she decided, reaching around him to escape the bathroom. Unfortunately, the doorknob wasn't budging. It was almost like it was-

"STEFAN!"

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Stefan asked nervously.

Elena shook her head as Bonnie pocketed the bathroom key. Their old dorm had some much needed safety concerns, but locking the bathroom from the outside was a helpful tool when exes refused to be in the same room together. "Caroline's been holding onto her anger for too long," Elena pointed out. "I hope she kills him, but they need to hash this out if she's ever going to move on."

"Yeah, right," Bonnie snorted. "Those two are far more likely to bang it out, still sniping at each other than to move on. How many times have we tried to get Caroline to take Tyler up on that date?"

They were all witness to the power couple Klaus and Caroline had been in high school until Klaus graduated. Bonnie often joked that junior prom was a run-through for Caroline's wedding, complete with the white dress she wore for Klaus. The Mikaelsons all had their issues, so no one was really surprised for Caroline to come home fuming after a disastrous visit from the self-sabotaging Klaus. Still, they never believed Caroline would ever truly give up on him.

That was the whole reason they cooked this plan up. Bonnie only hoped Caroline wouldn't hate them for it.

* * *

"I can't believe this," she muttered, still fiddling with the doorknob.

"Just talk to me, sweetheart," Klaus pleaded.

"Don't call me that," she spat. "I'm not your sweetheart, apparently because you loved me too damn much. How stupid do you think I am?"

Klaus shook his head, sitting on the toilet as he watched her nearly beat the door down. "You're brilliant, you know that," he said.

She snorted in derision. "Yep, I'm brilliant," she moaned. "So brilliant, I didn't follow through on my plan to change schools when I heard you transferred."

"I did it for you," he admitted softly. Caroline faced him in shock, but he was too busy looking at his feet to notice. "I never slept with that girl, love, or any of them. I just wanted you. I missed you."

Overwhelmed, she fought to hold onto her anger. "That sounds like you transferred for you," she pointed out. "To make up for your own stupid mistakes, only hurting me more for it."

He looked up, his head tilting at the tears welling in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he implored, clenching his hands together so they wouldn't reach for her.

"I loved you," she whispered, feeling utterly betrayed all over again.

"I love you," he replied earnestly. "I just wanted to apologize in person, to ask for the chance to earn your forgiveness."

Wiping under her eyes, Caroline stalked toward the vanity so she could fix her makeup. "And how do you expect to earn any forgiveness?"

Klaus stepped behind her, close enough for her to feel the warmth from his body at her back. Still, he knew better than to touch her. "I don't," he whispered, his breath hitting her ear. "I can only hope. But I'm here for you, sweetheart, make no mistake of that." Slowly, he placed a kiss against her hair before stepping back.

Knocking on the door twice like Stefan told him to, Klaus turned back to Caroline. "My number hasn't changed, and I promise not to approach you again unless you initiate."

Caroline's breath hitched in her throat at his sad smile, and he ran a hand through his hair as he left her alone. A year of heartbreak, and all she wanted was just to wrap him in a hug. Rolling her eyes, she focused instead on fixing her mascara.

The ball was in her court now, and he could damn well wait for her to pass it back when she was good and ready.


End file.
